Tag Archives: iOS 6

In Apple’s media event, they announced three amazing updates to their products. They look truly spectacular and I can not wait to get my hands on them. Next, let’s discuss the new iPod touch.

The iPod touch has been around for five years, just as the iPhone has. The iPod touch has truly revolutionized the iPod line and has become the most popular iPod. Since it’s inception, it has sold more iPod touches than any of the other models. It is the only iPod to feature iOS and was once described by Steve Jobs as the “training wheels for the iPhone”. The iPod touch is the only model of iPod that keeps selling and in the end, along with the iPod nano, will be the remaining iPods with the iPod classic the first to go and then the shuffle.

Screen Size

As I mentioned in the article about the iPod nano, the main idea of the Apple Media Event this week was the enlargement of the screen. The iPod touch, like the iPhone, has a Retina Display 4 inch screen. The previous screens were 3.5 inches. I believe the change of screen size is a good thing. It gives more ability to see while still being able to use it with one hand.

New Design

The first thing you’ll notice about the new iPod touch is that there are multiple colors to choose from. Like the new iPod nano it has blue, yellow, pink, white, and black (again with the white color with it). However, unlike the new iPod nano, it does not have green or purple, which I wish they kept green for the iPod touch. The color is on the back of the iPod touch, while it is white on the front. Therefore, since many people have a case on their devices anyway, one will not see the color and it won’t matter much. Another thing you’ll notice is that it looks a lot thinner. It is just 6.1 mm thin. It is even lighter than before at 3.1 ounces. The previous generation was 3.56 ounces, not much of a difference, but it is following Apple’s thinner is better technique, so I’m glad they are continuing it. It is made out of brushed aluminum which it gives it a smooth, light feel. You can also attach a colored Apple-provided strap to it allowing you to keep it secure in your hands.

Camera

The camera is something I am very excited about. The camera on the back went from 780p HD recording and a ridiculous 0.8 MP to an incredible change of a 1080p video recording and 5 MP (7 times more MP than the iPod touch 4th Generation). It also now comes with LED flash, a first in iPod touch and a definitely must have feature. It has the tap to focus feature and the face recognition feature that only up until now the iPod touch has not enjoyed. It also comes with panoramic view, allowing you to take 270 degree pictures. This feature is only available on iPod touch 5G and the iPhone 5 and it looks stunning.

Dual-Core A5 chip

Think about putting the processing power of the iPad 3 and you have the processing power of the new iPod touch. It is twice the processing power and up to seven times the graphics performance. It truly is incredible and it also means that the iPad 4 will either have the A6 or something even better. It isn’t a power hog and will keep the same, if not better, battery life than the previous generation.

Siri

Apple has now completed it’s iOS Siri line-up. All the products that Apple has from the iPhone 4S, the iPad 3 and the fifth generation iPod touch have Siri. With Siri on the iPod touch and iPad 3, you will need a wifi internet connection for it to work (unless of course you have a 4G iPad), however it is truly a great step in the right direction. Now all they have to do is move it out of beta.

Media

Of course the iPod touch plays music as it is an iPod and it plays movies, TV Shows etc etc. However with the new 4 inch screen and 44% more color saturation, the colors will pop more on movies and you will have a better movie experience with the bigger screen. The bigger screen and better graphics will also make playing games even better. The playing experience will be the best it has ever been on the iPod touch.

AirPlay

The new iPod touch, like the iPad 2 and greater and the iPhone 4S and greater, has screen mirroring which allows you to mirror what’s on your device to the TV via Apple TV. You can share music, movies, TV shows, and media to your heart’s desires. It has truly changed the way I use my iPad and it will change the way I use my iPod as well.

EarPods

Apple is getting rid of the old earphones that we all stash away whenever we get our new iPod because we don’t need them, our more expensive earphones will do the job. Now, Apple says that the new engineered EarPods are made to last and sound great, in fact they say it’s made to sound so great, I will use them instead of my high dollar, high quality headphones. I accepted the challenge so when I get a chance to use the EarPods, I will let you know if Apple speaks the truth.

The new, controversial, 5-pin dock connector called Lightning has drawn a lot of attention. It is the first time that Apple has changed the dock connector and it is certainly a bold move, considering that people are used to and recognize the 30-pin dock connector and use it on their devices all the time. Not to fret though. If you will still use 30 pin, Apple will be selling a Lightning to 30 pin adapter so that you and accessory manufacturers have time to catch up. It is a lot smaller than the 30 pin and it allows you to plug it in either way, similar to that of the MacBook Air/Pro MagSafe connector. I hope Apple knows what they are doing.

Price

The new 32 GB iPod touch starts at $299 while the 64 GB starts at $399. This compares to 8GB for $199, 32 GB at $299 and 64 GB at $399. It also compares to the fourth generation iPod touch models they still sell which are 16 GB for $199 and 32 GB $299.

All in all, Apple has produced yet another solid update to a solid product. The iPod touch has been a major part of Apple’s success since 2007 and with this update with Siri, A5, and a new camera just to name a few, will definitely continue to be part of that success.

Apple’s new iOS 6 has been demoed at yesterday’s WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) 2012 keynote speech. This update to the iOS operating system includes over 200 new features to the platform. Here are just a few of the stand out features that you can look forward to when the new update comes out in the fall.

Siri: Apple’s Siri voice assistant’s performance was highly improved. Along with sport stats, and movies, Apple has greatly improved the performance of Siri with restaurants, and even allowed Siri to open Apple apps and third party apps as well. The functionality of Siri has been greatly extended and will make a great addition to iOS 6. Apple has also extended Siri’s capabilities to many more countries and languages. A few of the updated languages are French Canadian, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin. The biggest feature yet for Siri will be the fact that it comes to iPad.

Facebook integration: Apple has been working very closely with Facebook to make the best Facebook experience ever on a mobile device. Facebook has been integrated into iOS 6 and into settings. All you need to do is enter your email and password and you’re ready to go! You no longer have to re-login every time you enter another app, including Facebook’s app. They are making it very easy to post things on Facebook from other apps as well. You can post photos from the photos app, post about websites from Safari, and you can “talk some smack from the game center” as Scott Forstall said at the WWDC. You can also access Facebook from the notification center as well. And finally, Facebook is integrated with Siri so all you need to do is talk and post.

FaceTime: FaceTime has been known to be the best way to have a video conference with someone, but there’s only one catch. It only works over wifi. FaceTime is now being enabled over cellular, so now whether you have a wifi or cellular data connection, you can FaceTime with anybody. Plus, instead of just using your Apple ID for FaceTime account to work, you can use your phone number as well. Same thing with iMessage.

Safari: Safari is the best and most popular mobile web browser on the planet. About two thirds of all mobile web traffic comes from Safari and iOS. iCloud tabs is now on Safari icons. Another thing that is now available is an offline reading list. Reading list was added in iOS 5 so you can read it while online. Now, as soon as you add a story to reading list it downloads it to your device. Safari is now also given the capability to have your own photos uploaded onto it straight from camera roll or iPhoto.

Photo Stream: Photo Stream is one of the really nice free features in iPhone. It is the best way to get all of your photos on all of your devices. Now, Shared Photo Streams is being added. It is a really easy way to share photos with friends. All you have to do is choose photos you want to send and choose the friends you want them sent to and that’s it, your done! They will be sent to your iDevices, Macs, and PC’s. It can be viewed on your tv using Apple TV as well.

Passbook: Passbook is a brand new app in iOS 6. It is the simplest way to get all of your passes in one place. Nowadays there are many great apps that allow you to get airplane tickets and save the barcode within app. But the problem is that the amount of apps begin to pile up and it becomes overwhelming to fumble around looking for them. Passbook takes them all and puts them together, making them easier to find.

Maps: Apple has built a whole new map app from the ground up. This app has been a worldwide effort in covering the world. For local searches they installed over 100 million US businesses. There is also traffic service so you can see how the traffic is on your destined route. They are also putting in turn by turn navigation. It is a very simple process, all you have to do is press the quick navigation icon and you’re on your way. During travel, the surrounding area is monitored in case a faster route is needed. All these functions are available from the lock screen as well. And to make it better, it is integrated with Siri so you can ask for directions to the desired location. You can also ask questions as you are going, such as “Where can I get gas?” And it will direct you to a gas station along your route. And of course the kids can ask the infamous question “Are we there yet?”. A brand new feature that Apple is adding to Maps is called FlyOver. They have flown over thousands of cities to make a graphic 3D model of the places. The map itself is vector based so you rotate in all directions. The graphics of the cities become more and more spectacular as you zoom in.

It appears that Apple has done it once again. They were able to take our favorite apps and re-revolutionize them. Apple, keep the good work up!